"Dazzling Reign"

A Sermon by the Rev. Amelie M. Sell

Preached at Pleasantville UCC, March 6, 2011

   Each year, Protestants celebrate the Transfiguration on the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday.  This year, we hear Matthew’s version of the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration.  Matthew began the story of Jesus’ transfiguration with the phrase “Six days later…”  In Matthew’s version of the life of Jesus, six days earlier, Jesus was in the Roman town of Caesarea Philippi, a city whose ruins are found today in Israel’s Golan Heights.  While Jesus was in Caesarea Philippi, he warned his followers about his impending death.  Caesarea Philippi’s ruins are at the base of Mount Hermon, and therefore, the unnamed mountain where Jesus was transfigured may have been Mount Hermon.   Mount Hermon is one of the tallest mountains in Israel, and its peaks are snow capped most of the year. 

   Please hear the story of the transfiguration as found in Matthew 17:1-9:

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

   During the Transfiguration, God echoes the words God spoke at Jesus’ baptism and again proclaimed Jesus to be God’s Beloved son.   We, the followers of God, were then reminded by God to listen to Jesus’ teachings.  It was difficult for Peter, James, and John to comprehend what they observed as they stood on top of the mountain with Jesus.  After their difficult climb to the top of the mountain, first Moses and Elijah appeared and then the disciples could hear God’s voice speaking to them about Jesus.  For the three disciples, this was a surreal and alarming experience—they were like us in that they were not accustomed to miracles taking place in their presence.  The disciples did not know how to cope with the reality of their encounter with God.  After the experience of observing the Transfiguration, the three disciples were probably relieved when Jesus told them not to tell anyone what they had witnessed.  It is true for both us and for Jesus’ first followers that we frequently don’t have words to describe the miracles we observe.

   The lectionary has placed the story of Jesus’ transfiguration as the bridge between the season of Epiphany and the season of Lent.  We leave Epiphany, a season in which we celebrate Jesus’ early ministry and the revelation of Jesus to his followers as the Light of the World.   We enter Lent, the season in which we remember the darkest point of Jesus’ life and ministry.  In the coming season, we will journey with Jesus to the cross.  When Jesus was transfigured, the witnessing Disciples saw clearly who Jesus was—Jesus was not a regular man but instead was God embodied in the form of a man.  Jesus came to earth to teach us, lead us, and to sacrifice for us: regular people.  The transfiguration brings hope to us that no matter how deeply our lives enter darkness, we will be cared for and loved by a God who breaks into our world to bring us peace and lead us to re-create our world for the better.

   The disciples witnessed a miracle and found themselves cowering with fear.  Jesus touched them and told them to “Get up and not be afraid.”  Like the disciples, we need to listen to Jesus’ words.  Throughout our lives as we work to follow Jesus’ teachings, we will run into difficult realities that will scare us and make us want to cower in fear.   We will want to act like Jonah and run away.  But, when we are called by God to live out Jesus’ teachings, we can’t give up.  We can’t hide.  We must remember that God’s Holy Spirit is right here with us to strengthen us and bolster us to do the challenging things we are called to do as followers of Christ. 

   We are not good at accepting miracles.  When we have encounters with things we can’t explain, we do everything we can to rationalize what we have observed.  It is important for us to allow God to enter our lives without reacting with skepticism.  Our faith requires us to sometimes believe in things we cannot rationalize.  Oftentimes, Twenty-first century Christians experience a disconnect in which we believe miracles happened long ago in Biblical times but we don’t allow for the possibility of miracles happening in our contemporary lives.   We must work to accept that God may enter our lives in ways we cannot explain and through events that surprise us.  A few years ago, the United Church of Christ had a campaign that was called “God-is-still-speaking” followed by a comma. That comma was important because it implied that God is not done with us.  God is involved in our lives today and is still revealing truths to us and teaching us.  We must allow for the possibility that God may make miracles happen in the midst of our hum-drum lives.  It is essential for us to both remain alert to those miracles and for us to work to accept them as unexplainable manifestations of the Holy Spirit. 

   Over the next six weeks, we will hear the stories of Jesus trials and temptations.  We will go into the desert with Jesus and hear about Jesus’ choice not to satisfy his hunger and not to seek fame and power.  We will hear stories of Jesus’ miraculous healings and raising Lazarus from the dead.  We will hear the story of Jesus’ glorious entry into Jerusalem followed by Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion.  We will hear stories that are gritty and harsh and sad.  We will remember Jesus’ last days and reflect on the sacrifices Jesus made on our behalf.  I pray we will remember the message of the Transfiguration: God comes into our world through Jesus in order to teach us, lead us, and to make sacrifices on our behalf.  May we be strengthened by the knowledge God loved the people of the world so much that God shared Jesus with us to inspire us to lead lives of faith modeled on God’s teachings.  May it be so and may we remember to listen to Jesus.  Amen.